Bonita Springs election: Meet the candidates

Bonita Springs City Council will have a new City Council member after the March 20 election.

District 1 Councilor Amy Quaremba and District 5 Councilor Mike Gibson are both re-running unopposed.

The District 3 seat will be occupied by someone new because incumbent Councilor Steve Slachta has reached his term limit. District 3 encompasses Little Hickory Island, homes south of the Imperial River west of U.S. 41 and the region south of Bonita Beach Road west of Imperial Parkway.

Two residents of the district are vying to replace him: Laura Carr and Rick Steinmeyer.

A Bonita Springs resident for 20 years, Carr lives in Spanish Wells with her husband, Arnold Haake.

Carr is involved in local veteran’s organization with her husband, a West Point graduate, as well as the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Steinmeyer has spent 38 years in Bonita Springs and has been attending council meetings for much of that time.

He is also a 30-year member of the Bonita Beach Improvement Association.

He provided a couple of short biographies that touched on what his policy goals would be as a member of the city council but lacked specific details on how he would reach them.

The profiles state Steinmeyer would lower taxes and establish a pay-as-you-go system for city construction projects.

Flooding and water flow problems are Carr’s top priority, especially after the devastation following Hurricane Irma, she said.

Traffic congestion is a close second, such as the backup of cars along U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road.

“To help with the additional traffic — people want to get to the beach,” Carr said. “Maybe we should approach someone who owns property close to the beach and give them incentives to build a parking garage and have shuttles (for beachgoers).”

Allowing Bonita Springs residents parking pass access to Barefoot Beach was also one of Carr’s priorities.

Steinmeyer said Bonita Springs has had a traffic problem for decades.

“Every city’s congested,” he said. “The (city's) quadrant plan is an effort. You’ve got to do something. It’s not going to carry anything … There’s no answer to that. Eleven thousand people come down Hickory Boulevard a day.”

Expanding beach access into private property would draw more people into the area, Steinmeyer said.

“It’s overdeveloped,” he said. “Why do we need more people? Who benefits from more people?”

Carr said the DR/GR — a large, relatively undeveloped area of land east of the city — should be left untouched, if not expanded. Experts have said the area is important for water storage and flood mitigation should another major rain event occur.

Instead of answering whether he is in favor of development or preservation on the DR/GR, Steinmeyer said the government dropped the land’s property value decades ago by requiring homes be built on 10 acres of land, effectively reducing low-scale development in the area.

The city’s decision to take ownership of the Bonita Springs Everglades Wonder Gardens spurred Carr to seek office.

“(The city) has no business taking over a property with alligators and animals,” she said. “Let some private enterprise take it over and do it. I don’t think the city should have spent $3.5 million of taxpayer’s money.”

Bonita Springs City Council election

When: Tuesday, March 20

Info: lee.vote

Details: When voting at the polls, you will need to bring an approved photo ID.